Reopened bridge links Sunnis, Shiites in Iraq

MARY BETH SHERIDANThe Washington Post

Published Wednesday, November 12, 2008

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- In the most dramatic sign yet of improving security in Baghdad, officials on Tuesday re-opened a bridge where one of the signature horrors of the Iraq war occurred, a stampede that killed more than 800 Shiite pilgrims.

Hundreds of politicians, tribal leaders and local residents packed a ceremony on the Bridge of the Imams to mark the re-establishment of the link severed three years ago between Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods on opposite sides of the Tigris River.

"We have broken the backbone of terror," declared Iraqi Army Lt. Gen. Aboud Qanbar, commander of military operations in Baghdad, in a speech. "The opening of this bridge is an achievement for all Iraqis."

The 2005 stampede, sparked by a rumor of a suicide bomber, was the most deadly single incident following the U.S.-led invasion. After the tragedy, the Bridge of the Imams was barricaded, and it remained closed as sectarian warfare raged in Baghdad.

In recent months violence has plummeted in Iraq, but the U.S. military has not yet handed over security responsibility for Baghdad to Iraqi forces, as it has in 13 of Iraq's 18 provinces. An average of four attacks a day occur in the capital, according to the U.S. military.

On Tuesday, a roadside bomb went off in Mustansiriyah Square in eastern Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 17, according to Interior Ministry officials.

The U.S. military put the toll at 19 wounded and no fatalities.

The U.S. military said that the decision to re-open the Bridge of the Imams was made by Iraqi authorities. A senior police official, Gen. Karim al-Khazraji, said the goal was "to make the citizens feel okay, that security is good."

Rana Jassim, a 30-year-old mother of two who lives near the bridge on the heavily Shiite Kadhimiyah side, noticed the crowds streaming onto it on Tuesday morning and realized the rumors were true: it was re-opening.

As she strolled across the span with her family, she began clapping and dancing, she recalled later. It had been two years since she had been in mainly-Sunni Adhamiyah on the opposite bank.

"The situation was bad," said her husband, Samel Lafta, 35, a government employee. "Not because of the regular people of Adhamiyah. It was some foreign people. Foreign terrorists, they tried to destroy the relations between us."

He was referring to al-Qaida in Iraq, a mostly homegrown Sunni extremist group that has been led by foreigners, according to the U.S. military.

"There were good relations in the past between the people of Adhamiyah and Kadhimiyah. We used to come here and eat dinner at restaurants all the time," Jassim said.

As she spoke, a white-haired man in a dishdasha robe walked by. "Ask them who killed all those people!" the man yelled at a journalist, pointing to a cemetery on the banks of the Adhamiyah side of the Tigris.

The white-haired man, who identified himself by a nickname, Abu Karam, said he was still uneasy about security. "I think it's too early to open this bridge. Why? Because the situation is still not very stable," he said.

He was from Adhamiyah, which was one of the last neighborhoods in Baghdad to stop fighting U.S-led forces in 2003. "I am a Baathist -- yes!" the 60-year-old teacher declared, referring to the party of toppled president Saddam Hussein.

Abu Karam added that he had no problems with mostresidents of Kadhimiyah. But he still worried about "uneducated people" stirring up trouble. He glanced at the cemetery, which was a public park before the invasion. Now it is a dusty expanse of headstones marking the victims of sectarian violence, including, he said, his cousin and nephew.

"This huge number of people, can you tell me why they're here?" he demanded. "Three thousand! Three thousand!" he cried.

He appeared to be one of the few downbeat people crossing the bridge. Three young men in jeans and T-shirts walked by, merrily belting out a popular tune: "Iraq, we're always singing in your name."

Still, concerns about security remain widespread. On the Adhamiyah side, Mohamed Falah, 31, a barber who was shopping with his family, said they weren't yet ready to cross the bridge to Kadhimiyah, which he hadn't visited in years.

"The commanders aren't very good," he said, indicating the Iraqi police and soldiers.

The security forces were taking no chances with the re-opened bridge. Soldiers at checkpoints on either end forced motorists to stop and open their trunks before crossing the span.

"The government is strong," said one taxi driver, Walid Khalaf, who was transporting two passengers to the other side. "I'm very happy."

Washington Post special correspondent Qais Mizher contributed to this report.